The Impact of Word of Mouth on Brand Utility in the Healthcare Service Sector

Abstract

High level of brand utility provides companies with a wide range of sustainable competitive advantages for their brands over their rivals in all walks of life. A good brand is rare, inimitable, and irreplaceable. Therefore, the concept of brand utility is quite precious and must be administered very well. When it comes to brand utility practice in real life situations, word-of-mouth can be one of the best ways to create and promote brand awareness to strengthen the reputation of a corporate effectively. This research reveals that word-of-mouth marketing emerges/pops up as top source or phenomenon for corporations which are exposed to strong rivalry in business. A survey was conducted to examine the causes and the effects of brand utility on word-of-mouth marketing. It was carried out on 657 patients in Turkey. It is found that brand utility affects the word-of-mouth marketing positively. The higher brand utility is, the less impact of negative word of mouth is. When the brand utility increases, so do positive and online word- of- mouth marketing activities.